Grammar term · The verb · Tense
La of prohibition
la al-nahiya
لَا النَّاهِيَة
The verbTensecore term
Also written: Nafy · Laysa · La of negation · Not in Arabic
In one line
The لا of prohibition — “do not!”: it clips the present verb like a command in reverse.
Classical definition
لَا النَّاهِيَةُ حَرْفٌ يَجْزِمُ الفِعْلَ المُضَارِعَ وَيُفِيدُ طَلَبَ الكَفِّ عَنِ الفِعْلِ.
“The la of prohibition is a particle that puts the present verb into jazm and conveys a demand to refrain from the action.”
Key words in the Arabic
طَلَب الْكَفِّdemanding refraining
يَجْزِمُputs into jazm
Understand it
Three different لاs share one letter-shape, and the grammar tells them apart: prohibiting لا clips the verb (لَا تَقْرَبُوا — nun gone), negating لا leaves it whole (لَا يَعْلَمُونَ), and category-لا governs a noun (لَا إِلَٰهَ). Read the ending of what follows and the لا identifies itself.
How to spot it
Recognition test
لا + clipped mudari' addressed at someone = a prohibition.
In the Qur'an
وَلَا تَقْرَبُوا۟ ٱلزِّنَىٰٓ ۖ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ فَٰحِشَةً وَسَآءَ سَبِيلًا
Al-Isra 17:32 — “Nor come nigh to adultery: for it is a shameful (deed) and an evil, opening the road (to other evils).”
لَا clips تَقْرَبُوا۟ — the dropped nun is the jazm of prohibition.
Study this ayah word by word →Common questions
How is this different from the la that simply negates?
By what it does to the verb. The prohibiting one clips the present verb into jazm — it is a command in reverse. The plain negating one leaves the ending untouched and only reports that something is not happening.
Next in the guideلَام الْأَمْرLam of command →Updated